Udaipur: The City of Lakes / The White City

Udaipur is known as the “Lake City” or the “White City” within Rajasthan. The city at ground level is at times like most of our Indian travels; crowded, noisy streets with lots of motorbikes and shop owners shouting to invite you inside their store. However, the city uniquely has a quick getaway from the street pollution: the sky. Practically every building had inviting rooftops which once there were furnished with big pillows, antique exotic chandeliers and small wooden tables for teas and Indian wines. The rooftop comes complete with stunning views of lakes and sunsets.

To further paint the picture, Udaipur has also been called the Venice of the East.

The many lakes are surrounded and filled by palaces, particularly the City Palace, the Monsoon Palace, Lake Palace, Shiv Niwas Palac

e and the Fateh Prakash Palace . These palaces were once built and reigned by the Mewar Dynasty and Udaipur was the final capital of the Mewar Kingdom. Today these palaces are 5 star hotels that will cost you around 500 Euro a night.

 

You can still explore the City Palace which we did through audio guides. Touring the palace was like walking through an art gallery. The Mewars valued art and architecture which mostly were themed using the dynasty symbols of peacocks and suns.

After visiting the City Palace we walked along the famous lake: Pichola Lake and reached a balcony in front of the City Palace, looking out to the Jag Niwas Island which holds the Lake Palace and the other islands like Jag Mandir. We had beer and local Indian wine and watched the sun set over the mountains with the beautiful city and lakes in the forefront. This was a treat since it’s hard to get a drink in some cities. In fact one dinner bill had us confused on who ordered the “big Pepsi.”

One night we walked into a courtyard and watched traditional Rajasthan dance performances and listen to live music. One of the dances came from the Jaisalmer, desert region. Here the water is so scarce that it worshiped. Women would visit the resource with almost a dozen bowls which once filled they would stack on their head. At the performance a women danced with 8 bowls on her head, jumping, sitting, laying down basically floating. At the end of the performance we could all go up and dance. I took advantage of the opportunity.

On our last day we walked across the bridges and along the water to watch Indians in the bathing ghat. We sat on roof tops over looking the lake relaxing, taking in the views letting time escape us. In the evening we took a boat ride which toured Lake Pichola and ended at Jag Mandir island which has fancy restaurant. The luxury of these lake islands and palaces was quite unlike any of our Indian experiences.

We hired a driver for the day and took the 2 hour journey the surrounding Udaipur countryside to visit the Kumbhalgarh fort. Along the way, we drove up and through mountains as well as some small villages. I was shocked at how much the country reminded me of California. However every now and then you would be caught in a traffic jam of goats or see a camel along the side of the road.

After the long drive we arrived at the fort, which seemed hidden among the mountains and were taken back. It was quite impressive as entering you saw a small palace on the left and Jain temples for miles to the right. We walked up the steep hill to the top of the palace and there stretched amazing views. It was well worth the 95km drive.

I also decided to sport my saree I bought in Delhi. At first I was a little nervous that Indians would find it insulting, but I received nothing but compliments, as well as requests for pictures no doubt. Some of the guys manning the entrance gates joked with me that I could pay the local ticket fee instead of the foreigner. It was quite fun seeing all the smiles and reactions, not that I like the attention or anything

We also, per my plead, were able to go out to the countryside by Mewar horse. Horses played an important role in the Mewar times, one of the Mewar Kings considered his horse his most prized possession and friend and therefore had statues and paintings dedicated to him. Horses in India represent power and the Mewar variety are very powerful and apparently hard to train, much like a stallion. You can identify a Mewar horse by their famous ears that turn in. We took the horses through local villages and through the country to a lake. This was total relaxation and it was special to see India in this way: away from city, tour bus, and taxi/rickshaw.

I loved Udaipur. I was sad to leave and vowed to come back. However, next time I will stay at one of those fancy hotels, instead of a $10/night hostel.